Drawn identically. Whether the joined notes share a pitch is the whole distinction.
Look at the two notes the curve joins. Same pitch means it is a tie: they become one sound of combined length and the second is not played again. Different pitches mean it is a slur: play them smoothly as one gesture, but play them all. The curve is identical in both cases, so the pitches are the only evidence.
The same curve; only whether the joined notes share a pitch distinguishes them.
| Slur | Tie | |
|---|---|---|
| Notes joined | Different pitches | The same pitch |
| How many sounds | One per note | One in total |
| Instruction | Play smoothly, connected | Hold through; do not re-articulate |
| Can cross a bar line? | Yes | Yes — the only way to write a note longer than a bar |
| Relationship (from Symbolwise's records) | Commonly confused with Tie — The same curve; only whether the joined notes share a pitch distinguishes them. | Commonly confused with Slur — Identical drawings; the pitches distinguish them. |
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-08-01
Tertiary reference. Used for what a mark instructs a performer to do and for uncontested history, never for a claim that any body defines staff notation.
Both are drawn as one continuous decorative stroke with a closed loop and a tail that crosses back over itself, which is why a description of the shape alone reaches both. The clef is far taller, spans a stave, and its spiral encircles one specific line — that encircled line is the note G, and it is the only reason the shape is drawn where it is.
Check where the dot sits. A dot immediately to the right of the notehead adds half the note's value again — a dotted half note lasts three beats. A dot directly above or below the head means staccato: play it short and detached. One dot, two opposite instructions, and only position distinguishes them.
They occupy the same place and are read the same way. A C means four-four; two stacked numerals state any metre explicitly. The C is not an abbreviation of the word 'common' — it descends from a broken circle used in medieval notation to mean imperfect time, and a full circle meant threefold time.
Length is the tell. A crescendo hairpin is drawn long, below a stave, and spans the passage it applies to — its extent *is* the instruction. A less-than sign is one character wide and sits between two values. If it stretches, it is music; if it fits between two numbers, it is mathematics.